Family: Overextended Infants

Overextended Infants

Written by Crystal Smith

Brainy Baby. Bilingual Baby. Baby Babble Speech Development. Baby Bumblebee Smart Baby Series. So Smart. And let’s not forget Baby Einstein.

Not familiar with all of these? Neither was I until curiosity drove me to look into repparttar vast array of educational media for infants and toddlers. I was quite astounded by repparttar 110889 sheer number of these products. And they are products -- please do not overlook that point. They are designed to prey on parents who have, through various crafty marketing campaigns, been made to feel that their infant will fall dangerously behind repparttar 110890 rest of repparttar 110891 babies in playgroup if he or she is not subjected to a heavy dose of videos, flashcards, CDs, and books.

What can babies learn from these products? Check web sites like www.babyclassroom.com to find out. The Brainy Baby Left Brain VHS series focuses on “such cognitive skills as logic, patterns, letters & numbers, sequencing, analyzing details, and more.” The Bee Smart Baby Vocabulary Builder claims that there are (unnamed) studies proving that teaching an infant sign language may raise IQ scores significantly. And if sign language isn’t enough, you can use that series to introduce your 4-month old to Spanish, German, French, and Japanese. Many of these products indicate that they are useful for children who are late talkers or have a speech delay, and for those children these media may indeed be very helpful. But repparttar 110892 underlying message in repparttar 110893 vast majority of these materials is that you should buy them to make your child smarter; to make your child talk and read at repparttar 110894 earliest age possible.

5 Ways to Beat the Comparison Trap

Written by Norma Schmidt, Coach, LLC

Picture this scene: You re-arrange your work schedule to attend a party in your child's classroom. You happily hug your child hello as you arrive. Then you notice a table laden with adorable ceramic dalmations, hand-painted, personalized and beribboned for each child in repparttar

class by one child's stay-at-home mother.

Now try another: Your alumni magazine features repparttar 110888 stunning accomplishments of one of your former classmates. Unlike you, she has not let motherhood slow her professional advancement one bit. Her children, smiling beside her in repparttar 110889 magazine photo, seem to be turning out fine.

If you're not prepared, either scene could drag you into "the comparison trap."

Maybe you've been there -- times when you compared yourself with someone else and experienced unpleasant results.

IT'S A NO-WIN.

Comparisons just don't work. For one thing, they're a greased slope into a pit of envy, resentment or guilt. More fundamentally, comparisons fail to honor each individual's unique path in life.

FORTUNATELY, YOU DON'T HAVE TO FALL IN!

Here are five ways to beat repparttar 110890 comparison trap.

TIP 1: GIVE YOURSELF MORE CREDIT.

Your thoughtful, loving choices to create repparttar 110891 right balance for your family is a splendid achievement. It takes heart, intelligence, imagination, resourcefulness and strength.

So, try this tip for building immunity to comparisons: Look inside, and give yourself credit for repparttar 110892 fine personal qualities you bring to living life your way. You might even mark times on your calendar to pause regularly and give yourself credit for all you are.

TIP 2: COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS.

Here's another comparison immunity-builder: Direct your attention to all that is happening in your life that you would like to keep happening. Make a list, including repparttar 110893 benefits of doing paid work and raising a family at repparttar 110894 same time. You might enjoy having your family help make your list longer.

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